Sale: 519 / Post War / Cont. Art II, June 19. 2021 in Munich Lot 410

 

410
Joseph Beuys
1a gebratene Fischgräte (Hering), 1970.
Fishbone mounted with yarn in a cardboard-clad ...
Estimate:
€ 10,000 / $ 10,800
Sold:
€ 12,500 / $ 13,500

(incl. surcharge)
1a gebratene Fischgräte (Hering). 1970.
Fishbone mounted with yarn in a cardboard-clad object box.
Signed, titled "1a gebratene Fischgräte [sic] (Hering) and inscribed "Artist proof". Board with faded stamps "Organisation der Nichtwähler", "Hauptstrom" and "Fluxus Zone West". Unique object. 44 x 31 x 9.5 cm (17.3 x 12.2 x 3.7 in).

• Reduced to its bare skeleton, the fish allows for associations with production and waste.
• Made in context of the performance Freitagsobjekt
1a gebratene Fischgräte on November 7, 1970 at the Eat Art Gallery, Düsseldorf.
• '1a gebratene Fischgräte' subtly questions the common value system
.

PROVENANCE: Private collection Germany (acquired directly from the artist).

EXHIBITION: Joseph Beuys: Wo ist Element 3?, Ketterer Kunst, Berlin, March 26 - May 22, 2021.

LITERATURE: J.Beuys, 1a gebratene Fischgräte, Edition Hundertmark, Berlin 1972 and 2nd edition in 1982.
Uwe M. Schneede, Joseph Beuys. Die Aktionen, Stuttgart 1994, no. 24, p. 300.
"Certain works require a release in limited edition, as there is no other technical option, and I don't want to spend the rest of my life frying fishbones"
(J.Beuys in: Schellmann Klüser, Joseph Beuys Multiples, Munich 1980, p. 16.

Beuys used the complete skeletons of twenty-five fried herrings for the action “Karfreitagsobjekt- 1a gebratene Fischgräte” at the Eat Art Gallery of Daniel Spoerri in Düsseldorf on Good Friday on March 27, 1970. The action itself essentially served for the production of the edition of the same name. Beuys first put the bones on strings on the picture rails in the gallery. The bone, which is usually disposed of as garbage, is related to Good Friday, which is part of the Easter ritual that puts focus on the suffering and death of Jesus Christ. Beuys understands the fish eaten on Friday as a fasting ritual, a symbol for Christ and: “That the concept of Good Friday also has an element of poverty.” (Quote from: Ein Gespräch zwischen J.Beuys und D.Spoerri, in: Joseph Beuys, 1a gebratene Fischgräte, Berlin / Cologne 1972, pp. 29ff). The fish-bone should go beyond the material aspect. In a conversation with Daniel Spoerri, Beuys said about this campaign “… not only nourishing yourself physically, but also nourishing yourself spiritually, that is to simply have an idea of the matter ..” (Beuys 1972, p.51). Before Beuys stood in the gallery for about two hours he had colored his face with charcoal and ashes. During the action, Beuys tore the paper the herrings were wrapped in apart and signed the pieces while Spoerri inscribed and numbered them. They served as “certificates” for the twenty-five objects, bearing title, signature and stamps and were visibly placed in the object box of each fish-bone. These multiple show a fish-bone suspended on a string in a wooden box, the design of which, however, is reminiscent of the “Intuition Box” from 1968. The present version is the prototype in a cardboard box that Beuys labeled as “artist proof” and dedicated to the restorer Hans Althöfer. Beuys and Spoerri agreed on an sales price of 200 Mark. In an interview with Spoerri, Beuys said jokingly: "If I add all the electricity costs and others, the sum would look a little different." (Beuys 1972 , p. 46). [Eugen Blume]



410
Joseph Beuys
1a gebratene Fischgräte (Hering), 1970.
Fishbone mounted with yarn in a cardboard-clad ...
Estimate:
€ 10,000 / $ 10,800
Sold:
€ 12,500 / $ 13,500

(incl. surcharge)